Titanfall cheaters forced to play with each other

I've never quite understood why people cheat at online multiplayer games, but it happens, and Titanfallhas an interesting approach to combating the issue. Instead of banning cheaters outright, Titanfall isolates them from the rest of the population. These flagged accounts are only permitted to join online games with other known cheaters, creating what developer Respawn Entertainment describes as "the Wimbledon of aimbot contests."

Respawn didn't deploy its anti-cheating measure right away. Instead, it spent the first couple of weeks silently collecting data on cheating players. Then, last Friday, it dropped the hammer and started separating offenders from the herd.

Interestingly, Respawn isn't preventing folks who abide by the rules from playing with their more mischievous friends. Regular players will have to engage cheaters on their turf, though. So-called "banned" accounts aren't permitted on public servers, even with an escort in tow.

Players who are classified as cheaters will see a "FairFight: Cheat detected" message in the game's private lobby inteface. I haven't noticed any reports of people banned in error, but Respawn has posted a contact email address for those who think they've been flagged incorrectly. The anti-cheating system appears to be limited to the PC right now, probably because the open nature of the platform makes it more vulnerable to exploits. Thanks to Rock, Paper, Shotgun for the tip.